Who would you like to see appointed as Dragons Coach for 2015 on

[jenninga]

If we can finish the season strong on the back of wins over the Rooters and Penriff,I wouldn't have any quams with Mary getting the gig next year.Teams like the Eels and Tigers have beaten the top sides and we need to have the confidence we can do the same.
In the end if we miss the finals on the back of conceding the 100 points over the 3 games under Price ruining our for and against,so be it.
If we finish the season with a wimper ,then we should look elsewhere as the team has something to play for therefore we need to show character which should tell us more about what Mary can bring to the team.

 

[possm]

McGregor has proven nothing. His wins have come against weak/weakened teams. I'll concede he might be better than Price. But that's setting the bar pretty low.

This is not actually much of an argument, basically "lack of experience" and that's it. I am not convinced one way or another who should be next coach, but think that the only real argument I've heard so far against Mary is lack of first grade experience. So my question is - what do you think a more experienced, better choice for coach (Bennett, Bellamy, hasler, anyone) would have done differently had they taken over in the circumstances Mary did, and how would those decisions have led to better outcomes?

An experienced coach would have developed a right side defense plan agains Manly. This threat was obvious well before the game and mentioned by many.

Our right side should have been strengthened by (for this game only) shifting Thompson to the right edge, having Benji and Widdop sides, moving Dugan to fullback and promoting Mata' Utia to right centre. Also instucting Dugan to move quickly to our right side at the back whenever the ball is moved wide to Manly's outside backs on the left.

An experienced coach - like Sheens for example - would be working hard to upgrade our forward squad for 2015. We need Kasiano and we need to blood O'Brien for season 2015. All the dead wood needs to be let go and new talented players with good potential needs to be brought into the NRL squad.

An experienced coach would know what to do and what is best for the team.

 

[possm]

HE has won five of his eight games as St George Illawarra’s interim coach and has received heavyweight support from the NSW State of Origin coach.

The Dragons, though, continue to stall on appointing Paul ‘Mary’ McGregor to the top job permanently. Only percentages keep the Dragons out of the top eight with six rounds remaining as the wave of support for McGregor to be appointed head coach continues to grow. It is unknown whether McGregor, who has key support from the playing group, has been officially interviewed by the club yet.

Gold Coast assistant Neil Henry is in the frame while Tim Sheens and the soon-to-be former Brisbane coach Anthony Griffin has also been mentioned as an option. Henry is said to be desperately keen for another head coaching position.

McGregor is still favourite after taking over from sacked former coach Steve Price two months ago. “He is a guy for whom I have great respect,” victorious Blues coach Laurie Daley said last night. “He has wonderful work ethic and is very diligent. His attention to detail is first class. “Mary has a great rapport with players and he seeks perfection. He has worked with me on programs for Country Origin and NSW Origin since 2008. “He was also an influential member of this year’s NSW coaching team.

“I can’t speak highly enough of him. He has been a highly successful coach at a number of levels.” It is understood the Dragons board is waiting to see whether the side continues to succeed under McGregor or falls away leading into the finals. A former NSW, Dragons and Test centre, McGregor was not commenting on Tuesday.

There is one theory at Saints that some want a big-name coach who can attract sponsorship. They may, however, have an issue convincing the McGregor-supporting playing group of their logic.

Saints had a massive turnover of players last year and with Benji Marshall’s arrival earlier this season, most of the roster is locked in for 2015. That gives the Dragons the flexibility of not having to rush into a decision due to recruitment reasons. Dragons chief executive Peter Doust was not speculating on the coaching position last night. Saints and NSW forward Trent Merrin appeared in The Daily Telegraph to declare his desire for McGregor to stay. “He deserves the job, he has turned this team around and all the boys believe and trust in him,” Merrin said.

Saints halfback Marshall added: “The big thing is it’s his club and he’s passionate about that. He demands perfection at training which I think a lot of these guys haven’t had for a long time.”

Ex-Illawarra Steelers skipper Michael Bolt was another supporting McGregor.
“He is by far the best candidate,” Bolt said. “I would back him to the hilt.
“Mary shows discipline and calls a spade a spade.”

McGregor is preparing his side for a big match against Sydney Roosters this Saturday at Allianz Stadium.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...d-coach-position/story-fni3g9a3-1227006316041

There seems to be a big push from a number of different areas for the head coach appointment to be given to Mary. To me it appears that Mary has a few in his corner who are strongly supporting his claim for the job.

It is still my view that only the best available coach should be appointed as our head coach. Mary may score well in some areas and fall short in others. My bottom line is that we need a successful coach.

 

[wungads]

To be honest I wouldn't mind seeing some lesser known coaches being given a shot at the job, I have seen some fantastic displays of mentoring and coaching in the Sydney shield this year, the Black town workers coach has been most notable to me, Sam Adams I believe his name is, at least give him a trial

 

[Slippery Morris]

There is no urgency to appoint a coach for 2015. Mary has 6 more weeks to prove his worth and if he goes the way he is may do so and earn a contract.

For all those against Mary, if he takes the Dragons to the finals would that be enough to sway you over? It won't be bloody easy so if he does surely you must give him some credit. If they finish 8th they play 5th place team not 1st which will also be pretty handy and a good chance to make it into wk2. Mary was involved in the NSW Origin team and taking the Dragons to an unlikely finals campaign before he joined is pretty impressive if he acheives the latter.

 

[Willow]

So in summary: At this point, it would be irresponsible of the Club to make any hasty decisions.

 

[Southern Supporter]

The Damo,
I applaud your train of thought.
Reading some comments, I thought the St George and Illawarra factions no longer existed.
I would be vocal in my support for, hypothetical, Nathan Brown / Mark Coyne coaching combination, if I thought that was in the best interests of our club.

 

[Jubileeboy]

The next two weeks performances will assist with my assessment.

 

[Objective View]

The next two weeks performances will assist with my assessment.

This week by week assessment of Mary personifies the incompetence of Doust and the Board and the juvenile thought process of many on here.

Mary's lack of first grade experience should disqualify him from consideration. We can't continue on a year by year wait and see approach.

There is no other club so would sign up Mary for 2015. The aim is to hire the best coach available and to do it asap (for planning purposes).

It's been 8 weeks since Price was sacked. Yes, Bennett was close to signing but I don't otherwise see the continued delay in making an credible appointment.

 

[DF4E]

I would hope the board has a date in mind that a final decision will be made.
If Mary can prove himself by then, than the club should go with him.
If he fails, I hope the club have a few good candidates in mind.
But like I said I HOPE.

 

[The Damo]

An experienced coach would have developed a right side defense plan agains Manly. This threat was obvious well before the game and mentioned by many.

Our right side should have been strengthened by (for this game only) shifting Thompson to the right edge, having Benji and Widdop sides, moving Dugan to fullback and promoting Mata' Utia to right centre. Also instucting Dugan to move quickly to our right side at the back whenever the ball is moved wide to Manly's outside backs on the left

Thanks Possm, this is an actual argument, and a pretty good one. I personally disagree as I think changing the structure around like that would do more harm than good as a one off. But with the exception of moving Thompson there is a credible argument to be made that long term this would be an effective structure. I think the bigger problem was that without merrin we lost out best defender and lateral mover in the middle, which caused the bunching to compensate and left the edge exposed. Plus the persistent use of ahmau for long minutes as once he's fatigued he can't move side way it seems.

As for planning for next year, if be surprised if there wasn't things going on that we don't hear about. Plus art has brought up Rory to train with the top squad so he arguably is making some of those moves.

Experienced coaches make mistakes constantly too. Hasler has assembled a monster pack, with a pretty poor set of backs, and it's costing them. They are getting overrun once fatigued and getting done for speed when the refs won't let them lay all over the ruck. The doggies are still doing well but with the resources and creative salary cap use they have going on they should be doing much better

 

[bottle]

This week by week assessment of Mary personifies the incompetence of Doust and the Board and the juvenile thought process of many on here.

Mary's lack of first grade experience should disqualify him from consideration. We can't continue on a year by year wait and see approach.

There is no other club so would sign up Mary for 2015. The aim is to hire the best coach available and to do it asap (for planning purposes).

It's been 8 weeks since Price was sacked. Yes, Bennett was close to signing but I don't otherwise see the continued delay in making an credible appointment.

So your 'objective view' is that unless people agree with you and are prepared to make an immediate judgment against McGregor they are juvenile. Moreover, you cite a lack of first grade experience as a reason to dismiss him out of hand, rater than any results based decision. This, despite the fact that there is ample evidence that rookie coaches have had Premiership success.

Sounds a little bit like an entrenched view rather than an objective one.

Where do you get the idea that Doust and the Board are operating on the basis of a week to week assessment criteria? I haven't seen anything to suggest that.

 

[coast_dragons]

View a skew.

 

[gypsy]

Is Ian Millward a chance of coaching us next season?

 

[GT0007]

Is Ian Millward a chance of coaching us next season?

I hope not, even though he had some great success in the ESL with St. Helens, his 3 stints as a head coach since are at an average of 21% wins. As low as 14% with the Cowboys.

I don't count the Souths game with Mary as he only had 2 or 3 days with the squad so disqualifying that Mary has a caretaker record at 71% wins. He had mixed results with NSW Cup but I'm not sure precisely the circumstances however while he was banished for 3yrs during the Bennett era he won 3yrs in a row in the Illawarra comp.

I wasn't at all happy about Mary as caretaker but I am eating humble pie. There are many more experienced coaches available but none are successful in recent times. People are throwing up some rookies but in that case why look past the rookie we have & roll the dice on another? Give me Belamy, Hasler, Maguire, Robinson or maybe Brown but none of them are available.

I find it amusing that some people expect us to beat teams like Manly or the Roosters for Mary to have credibility. Like someone else posted, exactly how much better would an experienced coach have us going? How many teams have won 5 from there last 7?

 

[GT0007]

So your 'objective view' is that unless people agree with you and are prepared to make an immediate judgment against McGregor they are juvenile. Moreover, you cite a lack of first grade experience as a reason to dismiss him out of hand, rater than any results based decision. This, despite the fact that there is ample evidence that rookie coaches have had Premiership success.

Sounds a little bit like an entrenched view rather than an objective one.

Where do you get the idea that Doust and the Board are operating on the basis of a week to week assessment criteria? I haven't seen anything to suggest that.

Entrenched views inhibit this forum Bottle. I'm not suggesting they should change based on 1 or 2 games but they should always be forming. I've said before my favorite player is the one that's playing well. I understand people's reservations with a rookie and I am the same but I also have reservations with an experienced coach who's been sacked and never won a premiership or a coach who has but since been appalling. Price was a mistake in hindsight but looked likely, Mary is a different man and IMO is our best option right now but I want to see how we go for the next month now the presure and expectation will increase

 

[Godz Illa]

I think the bigger problem was that without merrin we lost out best defender and lateral mover in the middle, which caused the bunching to compensate and left the edge exposed. Plus the persistent use of ahmau for long minutes as once he's fatigued he can't move side way it seems.

Merrin is not our best defender

 

[Godz Illa]

To be honest I wouldn't mind seeing some lesser known coaches being given a shot at the job, I have seen some fantastic displays of mentoring and coaching in the Sydney shield this year, the Black town workers coach has been most notable to me, Sam Adams I believe his name is, at least give him a trial

Hey, why not? Some people think winning in the Illawarra comp equates to worthy credentials. This guy sounds great

 

[Willow]

Entrenched views inhibit this forum

And of course we all celebrate your viewpoint which is in no way entrenched.

Give us a lift if you can GT, that is if you're able to reach down from those lofty heights. But I'm sure some folks are wondering if you can get through a day without having a shot at this appalling forum full of ghastly opposing viewpoints. Such diverse opinion must really grind your gears, and the hooves of your high horse.

 

[Godz Illa]

Give us a lift if you can GT, that is if you're able to reach down from those lofty heights.

It's too late, I think we're beyond saving, sadly. We're too old and too accustomed to thinking for ourselves.